Evaporative cooling towel and method of activation

ABSTRACT

A method for activating an evaporative cooling towel including providing a woven fabric constructed from a combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic fibers, soaking the fabric in water, wringing out excess water and stretching or snapping open the fabric to open the weave of the fabric and activate evaporative cooling.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/464,804 filed Mar. 10, 2012, the contents of which areincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is desirable to cool the skin after rigorous physical activities suchas running, hiking, cycling, exercising, etc. It is also desirable tocool oneself for general relief during less rigorous activities such asgolf, or even when sitting in a hot environment such as when watching asporting event.

Conventional methods for cooling the skin include the body's own naturalresponse (i.e., perspiration), applying soaked and refrigerated towelsdirectly to the skin, and blowing cooled water vapor at the skin, amongothers. While some of these methods are effective, disadvantages includethe long lengths of time required, lack of direct contact with the skin,inefficiencies with certain systems, lack of portability andrefrigeration and high costs, among others.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a personal cooling systemthat overcomes the disadvantages of prior art systems.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, an evaporative cooling towel is provided hereinincluding a fabric constructed from a combination of woven hydrophobicand hydrophilic fibers that trap moisture but force water orperspiration to evaporate more slowly than normal, which gives thefabric a longevity of cooling.

The towel may be a woven polyester and nylon fabric.

In another embodiment, a method of activating an evaporative coolingtowel is provided herein including the steps of: (a) providing a wovenfabric constructed from a combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilicfibers; (b) soaking the fabric in water; (c) removing the fabric fromthe water; (d) wringing out excess water from the fabric; and (e)stretching or snapping open the fabric to open the weave of the fabric.The fabric may then be applied to the portion of the user desired to becooled, such as around the neck.

Evaporative cooling of the fabric may be achieved as the evaporation ofthe water into the surrounding air cools the fabric in contact with theair and the latent heat needed to evaporate the liquid is drawn from theair.

Additional features, aspects and advantages of the invention will be setforth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description orrecognized by practicing the invention as described herein. It is to beunderstood that both the foregoing general description and the followingdetailed description present various embodiments of the invention, andare intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding thenature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanyingdrawings are included to provide a further understanding of theinvention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of thisspecification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings in which exemplary embodiments ofthe invention are shown. However, the invention may be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to therepresentative embodiments set forth herein. The exemplary embodimentsare provided so that this disclosure will be both thorough and complete,and will fully convey the scope of the invention and enable one ofordinary skill in the art to make, use and practice the invention. Likereference numbers refer to like elements throughout the variousdrawings.

In a preferred embodiment, a method for activating an evaporativecooling towel includes the steps of: (a) providing a woven fabricconstructed from a combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic fibers;(b) soaking the fabric in water; (c) removing the fabric from the water;(d) wringing out excess water from the fabric; and (e) stretching orsnapping open the fabric to open the weave of the fabric and activateevaporative cooling. The method may further comprise the step ofapplying the activated fabric to a part of a user to be cooled. Themethod may further comprise the steps of re-wetting the fabric, wringingout excess water from the fabric and stretching or snapping open thefabric to open the weave when evaporative cooling slows or substantiallyceases.

Evaporative cooling of the fabric may be achieved as the evaporation ofthe water into the surrounding air cools the fabric in contact with theair and the latent heat needed to evaporate the liquid is drawn from theair.

The fabric may be constructed from woven polyester and nylon yarns.

The foregoing description provides embodiments of the invention by wayof example only. It is envisioned that other embodiments may performsimilar functions and/or achieve similar results. Any and all suchequivalent embodiments and examples are within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention and are intended to be covered by the appendedclaims.

1. A method for activating an evaporative cooling towel, comprising thesteps of: (a) providing a woven fabric constructed from a combination ofhydrophobic and hydrophilic fibers; (b) soaking the fabric in water; (c)removing the fabric from the water; (d) wringing out excess water fromthe fabric; and (e) stretching or snapping open the fabric to open theweave of the fabric and activate evaporative cooling.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising the step of applying theactivated fabric to a part of a user to be cooled.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 2, further comprising the steps of re-wetting thefabric, wringing out excess water from the fabric, and stretching orsnapping open the fabric to open the weave of the fabric whenevaporative cooling slows or substantially ceases.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the fabric is constructed from wovenpolyester and nylon yarns.